Kate Winslet: 'I felt I had a responsibility to request an apology.' Photograph: PA

Kate Winslet accepted £25,000 libel damages today after an "offensive" claim in the Daily Mail that she had publicly lied about her exercise regime.

The Oscar-winning star did not attend the high court in London for the settlement of her action against Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Daily Mail.

But in a statement she said that she was "delighted" that the Mail had apologised for making false allegations.

"I was particularly upset to be accused of lying about my exercise regime and felt that I had a responsibility to request an apology in order to demonstrate my commitment to the views that I have always expressed about body issues, including diet and exercise," she said.

"I strongly believe that women should be encouraged to accept themselves as they are, so to suggest that I was lying was an unacceptable accusation of hypocrisy."

Winslet's solicitor, Rachel Atkins, told Mr Justice Eady in the high court that she had sued over an article entitled "Should Kate Winslet win an Oscar for the world's most irritating actress?", which appeared in the Daily Mail in January.

Atkins said the story, which was accompanied by several naked photographs of the actor in various films, was offensive in tone.

"The claimant has frequently asserted the right of women to accept the way that they look and by accusing her of trying to mislead the public, the defendant caused her a great deal of distress. It was simply not true," she added.

Atkins said that the newspaper published an apology in September, accepting that Winslet had not been duplicitous, and had agreed to pay the damages and costs.